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(No Mode1.) 2Sheets-Sheet CAR FENDER. Y No. 521,741. Patented June 19,1894.

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\ J. TOBIN.

` GAR FENDER.

No'. 521.741. Patented. June 19, 1894.

y UNITED STATES PATENT?- OEEICE.

vJAMES TOBIN, OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA.

CAR-FENDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 521,741, dated J' une19, 1894.

y Application filed December 28, 1893. Serial No. 495,158.A (No model.)

and exactv description thereof, reference being had-to the accompanyingdrawings, in

which like figures refer to like parts.

My invention relates to a car-fender intended to pitch'a person from thetrack in .iso

such manner as to do him the least personal injury, lor to enable him tocatch the fender and hold to it until lthe car stops. Heretofore fendershave been made scoop like to catch a person, but they did the person asmuch injury as if they had been struck `by the car. In fact where thosedevices have not been rigid but have been yielding, the person wouldstill come in contact with the dash-board or front end lof the car. Thedevices built on this principle, so far as I am aware, do not save theperson from danger to life and limb, as the car would not strike themany harder than the fender would. Other forms have been in use shapedsomewhat like the old fashioned cow-catcher for the purpose of throwingthe person from the track, but they have been so made that they wouldstrike a person near the feet, throwing him down on the fender in ahelpless position and then throwing him od in front of vention consistsof a V-shaped fender nearly as high as a man, formed chiefly of rubberhose or other'similarly yielding material and is so arranged that it cancatch the person or will -yieldingly push him to one side off theftrack, or if he chooses he can readily catch it and stand on the fenderholding to it until the car stops.

v The features of my invention will appear more fully from the drawingsand the following description.

In Figure 1 there is shown the perspective of the front end of a streetcar with the fenderl in place, the rear of the street car being brokenvaway. Fig. 2 is a central, vertical,

horizontal section of the parts shown in Fig. 1. i Fig. 3 is a crosssection of the means of attaching the fender tothe car. Fig. 4 is a viewin lperspectivefrom thedrivers position of the means whereby the` fenderis adjustably connected to the frontof the car, and Fig. is a view inperspective of the rear of the front upright of the fender showing itsmeans of mounting.

In detail lis a street car track and 2 a street car, having the frontplatform 3 and the dashboard 4. Beneath Vthe platform I place a plunger5 actuated'by a spiral spring 6, as shown in Fig. 2. It is mountedloosely in suitable brackets 7 and extends in frontof the car aboutthreefeet.

VOn each side of the dash-board is a slotted guide 8 made preferably ofmetal andbolted to the dash-board by the bolts 9. Vertical bars 10 madepreferably of wood are connected by bolts 11 which operate loosely inthe slotted guide 8. To the wooden bar 10 is hinged the upright 12 ofthe fender to which are secured a series of hose 13 or other yieldf ingstrips or bars, which pass around a wooden upright 14, vat the front endof the fender. To secure the hoseto the uprights 12, I bore a series ofholes in such wooden bars and after inserting the ends of the hose inthe holes I secure the hose by putting in a wooden plug. Any'other meansof course can be used to secure the hose to the uprights 12. I securethe hose to the front block 14, which is triangular in cross section, bycutting notches in the front edge. and letting the hose into suchnotches. Then I place a piece of hose l5 vertically on the front edge ofsuch block 14 from top to bottom. This strip of hose 15 thus holds theseries of horizontal hose to the block 14, and also serves as a guard orcushion on the front endof the fender. Of course yany other kind ofcushion could be used in IOO 12 are formed likewise with a bow extendingoutward about knee high fromthe ground, so that the swell shown in theuprights 12 and the block 14 will exist in the series of hose on bothsides of the fender. By this construction wherever a person may come incontact with the fender, it will tend to lift him off the ground,leaving himin a vertical position instead of upsetting him, as the otherforms of fenders do. At the lower end of the block 14 is a prow or point17 which extends forward, butnot quite so farforward as thebow 16. Thispoint 17 is for the purpose of pitching small objects from the track.The block 14 is supported and carried by a vertical iron bar 18 by meansof bolts 19 extending through the block 14 and working in vertical slotsin the bar 18. The bar 18 is rigidly secured to the front end of theplunger 5 and made secure by the brace 20.

21 are springs extending from thebar 10 to the upright 12 and bycompression keeping them closed against each other. The object of thisarrangement is to render the sides of the fender yielding when struck,as the upright l2will in such case be somewhatswung back` on` its hingesagainst the springs 2l. The hose or ilexible bars 13 are secured inplace between the uprights by a rod or strong wire 22 which extends fromtop to bottom and to which each line of hose or bar is se cured. Thisenables the fender to support a man. who may jump on it and also holdthe flexible bars at proper distance apart.

23 is a jointed rod pivoted at24 to the plunger 5 near its front end andextends diagonally therefrom upward through a vertical slot` 25 in thedash-board of the car. At its upper end the rod 23 is pivoted to theupper end of a hand lever 26 which is mounted at itslowerend to abracket 27 in the platform of the car. The object of this constructionis` to enable the driver to draw the fender back against the dash-boardof the car which he does by throwing the hand lever 26 back. When thefender is drawn to the dash-board as described, the plunger on which thefender is mounted is locked by means of a spring pawl 28 adapted toengage a notch 29 in the under side of the plunger near its front end.When the plunger is thus locked, the fender will be held against thedash-board. To unlock itin order to throw the fender out in its normalposition, a spring supported bolt 30 mounted in the platform of the carextends downwardly through the platform, so that when the head 31 ispushed down by the foot of the, driver the lower end of the bolt willengage` the spring pawl 28 and cause such spring pawl to disengage theplunger, whereupon the plunger is thrown forward by the rods 32 whichare secured at their lower ends to the lower hose or bar. These rods 32are supported by the springs 33 that are connected to the dash-board at34.

My fender is held preferably four inches from the ground, but to preventit coming in contact with the street surface at any time, I provide acaster 35 under each corner of the fender. These casters shouldpreferably extend within about two inches of the ground.

When an individual comes in violent contact with the front angle of thefender the cushion there and the peculiar form of the front edge of thefender will not throw him down, but push him to one side while he stillmaintains a vertical position. The fender being nearly as high as a manit not only strikes him below the knees, as theforms here toforc usedhave done, but strikes hisbody and his shoulders, thus pushing the man`to one side off the track in as nearly a vertical position as ispossible. The blow of the fender will not hurt him as it will yield agreat deal. Not only will the individual hose yield with which he comesin contact, but the whole fender will yield somewhat to ablow against itby reason of the plunger 5 being spring actuated. Therefore so far asthe construction of the fender is concerned there isnothing in it whichcan harm` apersonwho is vio lently struck by it, and this can be saidofno other fender of which I am aware. The'only injury then that canresult to the man struck is due to his coming in Violent contact withthe street surface, and the action of this fender when it forces a manfrom the track is such, because of its peculiar construction, as to makehis contact with the street surface as free from danger of injury as ispos sible with any construction.` As has been said, if the personrundown by the car is in proper position he can by grasping the fenderwhich is high enough for him to grasp, save himself from any injurywhatsoever. By the spring hinge arrangement shown in detail in Fig. 3the sides of the fender near the car will yield back when they come incontact with individuals.

This form of fender is also useful in avoiding injury to vehicles that`may be run down. If the center of the fender strikes the vehicle thewhole fender will yield say about two feet and greatly deaden the blow,which will tend greatly to save the vehicle from injury as well asthecar from aviolent shock.. If a vehicle be crossing at an angle, or iftis almost oft' the track this fender will gently push it entirely olfwithout injuring either the ve'- hicle or the car.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In combination with a car, a springaetuated bar connected to the carwith an end extending in front of thesame, and a triangular flexiblefender supported at one of its corners on the projecting'end of the barand at IOO . the other .corners attached to the car, substantiall'y asshown and described.

2. In combination with a car, a substantially vertical fender triangularin form and with its sides flexible, and a horizontally acting springdevice adapted to keep the forward corner of lthe fender to the front,substantially as shown and described.

3. In combinationwith a car, a plunger connected to the car with an endextending in front of the same, a fender mounted on the projecting endof the plunger, and a link and a lever mounted on the car and adaptedwhen operated to withdraw the plunger, substanv`tially as shown anddescribed.

4. In combination with a car, a plunger connected to the car with an endextending in front of the same, a fender mounted on the projecting endof the plunger, a link and lever mounted on the carand adapted whenoperated to withdraw the plunger, a pawl adapted to lock the plungerwhen it is in, and means of releasing such pawl,`substantially as shownanddescribed.

5. In combination with a car, a horizontal plunger connected to the carwith an end extending in front of the same, a vertical bar secured onthe outer end of such plunger, a vertical bar secured to each end of thedash board, and flexible strips extending from the -forward vertical barto those secured to the dash board.

6. In combination with a car, a horizontal *v plunger connected to thecar with an end extending in front of the same, a vertical bar securedon the outer end of such plunger, a vertical bar secured to each end ofthe dash board, lexible strips extendingfrom the forward vertical bar tothose secured to the dash board, and a stay located between the verticalbars and secured to each flexible strip to keep them at the properdistance apart.

7. In combination with a, car, a horizontal plunger connected to the carwith an end extending in front of the same, a vertical bar secured onthe forward end of such plunger avertical bar secured to each'end of thedash board, flexible strips extending from the forsecuring the fender tothe car that the fender will be as `a whole vertically movableautomatically, substantially as shown and described.

9. In combination with a car, a fender, bars p secured to the car andprovided with vertical slots, and bolts extending from the fender andoperating loosely in such slots, substantially as shown and described.

l0. In combination with a car, a fender, a`

plunger connected to the car with an end extending in front of the same,a bar mounted on the forward end of such plunger provided with verticalslots, and means of so connecting such fender to such bar that thefender will be vertically movable, substantially as shown and described.

1l. In combination with a car, a substantially vertical triangularfender whose sides are llexible, and spring actuated hinges connectingthe fender to the carin such manner that the sides of the fender willautomatically yield inwardly when they contact'with an object,substantially as shown and described. n

12. In combination with a car, a fender coni sisting of three uprights,one in front and two attached to the car, such uprights being enlargecloutwardly at a point about knee high `from the ground, and flexible barsconnecting such uprights and extending about the outer surface of thesame, substantially as shown and described. v

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 4th day of December,1893.

v JAMES TOBIN. Witnesses:

V. H. LocKwooD, N. D. TILFORD.

